I just got back from a weekend in Rome where I celebrated my 30th
birthday with some very special friends. It was the best birthday of my life
simply because I was laughing, eating, walking and chatting with people that I
love dearly. They flew to Rome from London to be with me, knowing that I had
just moved to a new city and may not have had anyone to really celebrate with!
Aren’t they wonderful? I was also able to catch up with some local Italian
friends ‘a cui voglio tanto bene’ :) It was
fantastic!
I departed from Termini Station this morning, Verona-bound. As I
stepped onto the train, my heart pumped out a strange and wonderful sensation
that coursed through my arteries and gave me that tingly feeling in the guts
that makes you smile. I can only describe it as a mixture of satisfaction,
excitement and relief in one deep-seated hit. It was something I recognised but had not experienced for a very
long time… I felt like I was going home.
I’ve been travelling for two-and-a-half years now and during all that
time, I have not stayed put anywhere longer than six months. I have lived in
places for two, three, four months and then moved to another job, another flat,
another city. However, as I got on that train to head back to Verona, I felt
like I finally had a place to call home. A place where I could unpack my winter
AND summer wardrobe because I’d be staying for more than one season; a place
where I could put books on the shelves and own more than one suitcase-full of
stuff.
Verona is gorgeous. It is an ancient city that has been dominated and developed by a myriad of people. You’ll see ruins and constructions still standing from the Roman to Austrian Empires.
Every day I cross over the river at Ponte della Vittoria, and even if I have been wondering what on Earth I’m doing in Italy, I glance over to Castelvecchio on my right and the dome of San Giorgio in Braida on my left, and I know that I’ve made the right decision. It’s just so beautiful! Then in the evenings I walk along the Adige River listening to him rush by the soft yellow lights of San Zeno and I sigh contentedly… I live here.
